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Body Language
Pilot Opening Spiel: "Let your body do the talking, onnnnnnn… Body Language! Let's meet the players: Jenilee Harrison, and her partner Anne-Marie Johnson! And for the men, John Bauman, and his partner Sam Houston! Now, here's the star of Body Language, Tom Kennedy!" Series Opening Spiel: "It's a game for the uninhibited, and our stars this week (are): (celebrity #1), and (celebrity #2). Watch their bodies do the talking on… Body Language! And (now,) here's the star of Body Language, Tom Kennedy!" Body Language was a game for the uninhibited, where Showoffs meets Password Plus/Super Password. Gameplay The show pitted two teams against each other, each consisting of a contestant and a celebrity guest. The gameplay centered around the party game charades, but contestants also had to solve word puzzles to win money. Main Game Teams played separately, with one player standing behind a podium, and the other in the acting area in front of it. Contestants had 60 seconds to guess as many of five words/phrases/names as they could. Actors could not talk, make sounds or use props, including clothing. They instead had to pantomime the words. They could pass on any words they wished and come back if time remained (a la Pyramid 2002, if a word was guessed after being passed, it wouldn't count until it was returned to and guessed then). Once time ran out or all five words or phrases had been guessed, the contestant was shown a puzzle. Should an actor violate any of the said rules above or even give away the word itself, the opposing contestant got first chance at the puzzle using the words said by the first player. The puzzle was a sentence or question with seven numbered blanks. After over a month on the air and to avoid confusion, parentheses appeared around two missing words which indicated that those words were unacted. Whatever blanks whose acted words the contestant had managed to guess were then filled in, and the player won $100 if he/she could guess what the puzzle was describing. If not, the opponent was called over to choose a blank to reveal and then make a guess. The two contestants alternated revealing blanks and making guesses until one got the correct answer and won the puzzle. If neither one had solved it after all seven blanks were filled in, the celebrities were each given a guess. If they failed to solve the puzzle, the puzzle was thrown out and the value of that puzzle carried over to the next puzzle. In the second round, the roles were reversed, and each puzzle was worth $250; starting in 1985 and continuing towards the end of the run, getting all five words awarded a cash bonus of $500 (bonus prize in case of teen contestants) which did not count towards the final score. The first team to reach $500 won the game and advanced to the bonus round. If after the fourth puzzle neither team reached $500, a playoff puzzle was played with no acting. The champion player was given the choice to start or have the challenger start. Contestants again took turns revealing a chosen blank and guessing the puzzle until one guessed correctly, won the extra $250 and the game. blround1.jpg|This contestant is trying to guess what Soupy Sales is acting out. Teen Week 1.JPG|From Teen Week, Katie is trying to guess what Malcolm Jamal Warner is acting out. Teen Week 4.JPG|Alyssa is trying to figure out what Jeff B. Cohen is acting out. blcap.jpg|Ummmm, doesn't this seem a little suggestive? I don't think you would want to see this, kids! Body_Language_Clue.png Jim_J._Bullock's_Struggle_on_Body_Language.png BL_Puzzle_Board.png Partial_BL_Puzzle.png Flintstones_Solve.png Full_BL_Puzzle.png blround1puzzle.jpg|Partially Played puzzle. Teen Week 3.JPG|Puzzle Solved. Bonus Round: Sweepstakes The team had 60 seconds to guess as many of ten words and/or phrases as they could. Originally the winning celebrity gave the clues, but starting in the summer of '85, the winning civilian decided whether to give or to receive (most civilians decided to give). Like the main rounds, only the clue-giver could pass on a word, but could come back to it if time permitted, and like the main game, if words were guessed after being passed, they needed to be returned to and guessed again to count. Unlike the main game, illegal clues disqualified that word, and Tom went over the words missed after the time was up. Each correct word was worth $100. After the first half of the bonus round, the team played the second half in which three words had to be guessed in 20 seconds or less. If successful, the contestant's winnings were multiplied by ten, for a maximum of $10,000. If not, the contestant kept the money won in the first half. In this half, however, illegal clues not only disqualified a word, but also ended the round. blsweepstakespart1.jpg|1st part of Sweepstakes blsweepstakes2.jpg|2nd part of Sweepstakes Bandit.jpg|Sixteen seconds remain as Vicki Lawrence acts out the word “BANDIT”. Michael Wins $8000.jpg|Michael is happy! Linda Kaye Henning just won him $8000! $10000.JPG|This contestant is thrilled because Vicki Lawrence just won her $10,000! Body_Language_New_Year's_Eve_Celebration.png 1983 Pilots While the front game was the same, but with a different scoring structure ($100-$200-$300-$400), a different endgame was used, called "7 Chances". Two puzzles were shown one at a time, and the puzzles were the same as before but without the acting portion. The winning team picked off blanks by number and every word used being deducted from their seven (similar to the 1986 Chain Reaction endgame). The first puzzle was worth $500; solving both won $5,000 (on one pilot) or $7,000 (on another pilot) plus $1,000 per unused chance, a maximum of $10,000/$12,000. Body_Languag_Pilot_Blank_Screen.png Body_Language_Pilot.png Body_Language_Pilot_Puzzle.png Body_Language_Pilot_Clues.png Body_Language_Pilot_Volkswagen_Solved.png Body_Language_Pilot_Answers_Revealed.png In addition, all parts of the set were white & green. When the pilot became a series, some parts of the set (the scoreboard, the doors and the puzzleboard frame) were given a new paint job and changed color from green to blue. Returning Champions Originally, champs played until they lost once, won five games or reached CBS's winnings limit of $25,000. In September 1984, this was modified so champs could stay until they won six games or lost twice. The winnings limit was later increased to $50,000 in November 1984. Uniforms & Nametags For the first two shows, all contestants & celebrities wore green nametags. Starting with the third show, championship teams wore red name tags while challenging teams continued wearing green name tags. Near the end of the run, celebrities' nametags were now star-shaped. On shows in which teenagers were contestants, players wore sweatshirts of their team color (green for the challengers & red for the champions). Buzzr Version Since 2015, a revival of the show was made for YouTube's BuzzrBody Language | Buzzr channel featuring various Internet celebrities as contestants, hosted by Cynthia LuCiette. Trivia *Before this show, their was a board game that was released by Milton Bradley also called Body Language with celebrity player Lucille Ball on the cover in 1975. *This was the second game show where Gene Wood and Tom Kennedy appeared together; the first was Password Plus. *The original 1983 pilot aired on Buzzr as part of their "Lost and Found" week on September 11, 2015. *In the pilot, the win cue for "Seven Chances" was borrowed from Mindreaders in 1979 and later used in pilots for Puzzlers in 1980 and Star Words in 1983. *The "disqualification" sound was the same as the "illegal clue" sound from Password Plus/Super Password. Model Pic 1958327 1857769981116786 2707559502765811775 n.jpg|A model of the set In Popular Culture In the 2000 documentary film Just Melvin, Just Evil by James Ronald Whitney about his grandfather named Melvin Just. A brief clip of James' appearance on Body Language from 1984 can be seen as he wins the Sweepstakes bonus round with his partner Abby Dalton. Just_Melvin_Just_Evil_Body_Languge_Clip.png Just_Melvin_Just_Evil_Body_Language_$7,000_win.png ADDITIONAL NOTES: He was under the name "Ron" according to his nametag. According to the film, he was a "five day champion, retired undefeated". Various clips of his appearance on Star Search from 1986 and 1987 can be seen as well. A brief clip from an episode of Body Language where Betty White appeared as a celebrity partner were included in the sixth episode of the third season of the hit TV Land sitcom Hot in Cleveland in 2012. The clip was digitally altered to have Betty's red nametag read as "Elka" to make it appear that White's character Elka Ostrovsky appeared on the show instead of "Betty". The episode in general was called "How Did You Guys Meet, Anyway?". Hot_in_Cleveland_Elka_1.png Hot_in_Cleveland_Elka_2.png Music Pilot – "Working Girl March" by Dave Grusin (also used in pilots for Star Words in 1983 and On a Roll in 1986 and before that the film Tootsie in 1982) Series – Score Productions The ticket plug cue would be revamped and used on Classic Concentration; the ticket plug cue itself was also recycled into the 1985 pilot and said series as a prize cue. Inventor Mark Goodson Studio CBS Television City, Hollywood, CA Rating References Gallery Pictures lucy.gif Tickets 1983_ticket_pilot_for Body_Language_Game_Show_Pilot.jpg 488080_622863044395143_2121695205_n.jpg Credits Mark Goodson Productions.jpg|"This is Johnny Olson/Bob Hilton/Gene Wood speaking for Body Language, a Mark Goodson Television Production." CBS Television City.jpg|Unlike The Price Is Right and other CBS game shows, the CBS Television City logo only appears during the full credit roll. Body Language Closing Logo.jpg|The Body Language Company, ©MCMLXXXIV (1984) Body_Language_'83.jpg Tagline "This is Johnny Olson/Bob Hilton speaking for Body Language, a Mark Goodson Television Production." (Said during series finale): "This is Gene Wood saying so long for Body Language, a Mark Goodson Television Production. This program has been edited for broadcast." Video Gallery To see videos of Body Language, click here. Links Body Language (1983 Pilot) @ The Game Show Pilot Light website Current Body Language page @ Game Show Utopia Older Body Language page @ Game Show Utopia Body Language @ tv-gameshows.com Category:Charades Category:Stunts & Dares Category:Puzzle Category:Celebrity Category:CBS shows Category:Network shows Category:Network daytime shows Category:Daytime shows Category:Goodson-Todman Productions Category:Fremantle Category:Short-Running Category:Flops Category:30 Minute Game Shows Category:1984 premieres Category:1986 endings Category:Revivals